Paula Cappa's Blog - Posts Tagged "halloween"
The Screaming Skull
This short story (1908)by F. Marion Crawford takes place in a farmhouse near the Dorsetshire coast, and is really creepy, a perfect read for Halloween season. The skull lives in a hat box in a bedroom cupboard. Crawford writes a stream of consciousness, inviting the reader in with scenes full of spooky wind howling through the windows, urgent raps at the front door, candles mysteriously blowing out. Yes, we've read all these things before in other stories, but the effects are gloomy and haunting, especially when the skull disappears. The skull, of course, creates its own supernatural manifestations, and the reader can't be sure if the actions are real or from the narrator's fearful thoughts. The style is wonderfully old-fashioned, shedding doubt over all ... until the very end.
No real violence; just suspense, haunting, and a deep sense of dread. Love it!
Book: The Weird, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer.
No real violence; just suspense, haunting, and a deep sense of dread. Love it!
Book: The Weird, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer.
Spooky Reads for Halloween
Halloween is the delightfully dark month if you're reading ghost stories or fiction about demons and mysterious entities.
Night Sea Journey, A Tale of the Supernatural is featured at Spooky Reads this week. Only $2.99!
http://spooky-reads.com/night-sea-jou...
Supernatural thriller with angels, demons, psychological twists, romance, murder.
★★★★★ HELLHORROR REVIEW, 5-Thumbs Up “A page-turner … I loved it. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a great read, great writer, awesome detailed characters, demons, angels.”
HORROR-WEB.COM REVIEW “Beautifully told. Cappa is a skilled writer producing beautiful prose with amazing imagery … ”
MONSTER LIBRARIAN "Supernaturalism and dream theory, told in dreamy colorful language, with deft characterizations. Highly recommended."
★★★★★ “Quite good and worthy of five stars. BRAVO.”
"This is a must read for any fans of the supernatural."
“Just the right balance of terror and romance.”
“This is a well-written story by an author with skill.”
“This book was great I gotta read it again.”
http://spooky-reads.com/night-sea-jou...
Night Sea Journey, A Tale of the Supernatural is featured at Spooky Reads this week. Only $2.99!
http://spooky-reads.com/night-sea-jou...
Supernatural thriller with angels, demons, psychological twists, romance, murder.
★★★★★ HELLHORROR REVIEW, 5-Thumbs Up “A page-turner … I loved it. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a great read, great writer, awesome detailed characters, demons, angels.”
HORROR-WEB.COM REVIEW “Beautifully told. Cappa is a skilled writer producing beautiful prose with amazing imagery … ”
MONSTER LIBRARIAN "Supernaturalism and dream theory, told in dreamy colorful language, with deft characterizations. Highly recommended."
★★★★★ “Quite good and worthy of five stars. BRAVO.”
"This is a must read for any fans of the supernatural."
“Just the right balance of terror and romance.”
“This is a well-written story by an author with skill.”
“This book was great I gotta read it again.”
http://spooky-reads.com/night-sea-jou...
Salem: Glossy Black Beast, White Horns
Ever read the fiction of Mary Wilkins Freeman? "The Little Maid at the Door" is a suspenseful story of witches at Tales of Terror this week. You might also enjoy her play, "Giles Cory, Yeoman" which is also about the Salem witch trials and what a read it is. And if that isn't enough for you, you will find Freeman's spooky tale "The Shadows on the Wall."
Enough? I don't think so. Are you into listening to radio plays? I've got several for you.
Stop by Tales of Terror Women in Horror month for October. And next week, I've got something really special planned!
http://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2013/...
Enough? I don't think so. Are you into listening to radio plays? I've got several for you.
Stop by Tales of Terror Women in Horror month for October. And next week, I've got something really special planned!
http://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2013/...
On a Personal Note About My Writing
May I take a moment to give you a bit of news?
A writer’s art is mostly about balance. Balance of the elements of plot, dialogue, description, dynamics between protagonists and antagonists, even long sentences and short ones. I wrote my first novel at age 21 about vampire bats and my second novel about a haunted windmill. Both were dreadful novels and crushing failures. I wrote a pack of short stories and they also failed to see the publisher’s light of day. I rejected fiction writing for a while, wrote freelance feature articles for newspapers with surprising success; then I went back to fiction writing, determined to excel in my craft: read, examine, study, write; read, examine, study, write.
Here I am (I won’t say exactly how many years later) with seven short stories published in literary journals and anthologies, and two “quiet horror” novels selling conservatively on the internet (The Dazzling Darkness did make the Amazon ebook best-seller list for about 24 hours–a thrilling day), and book reviews by industry professionals and customer readers that I can be proud of.
Today, I’m happy to announce that Crickhollow Books (Crispin Imprint) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin will be publishing the print editions of The Dazzling Darkness and Night Sea Journey. Release dates might be as early as December.
Another piece of good news, Whistling Shade Literary Journal in St. Paul, Minnesota has just published my latest ghost story, Between the Darkness and the Dawn in their print edition (Internet edition will go live next week).
My Reading Fiction, Tales of Terror blog is nearing the 10,000 hits mark in less than a year of posts. And if you are a regular reader here, you can probably sense my dedication to (and my joy because I love doing Tales of Terror) writing highly inviting story introductions and hunting for the most thrilling and provocative classic short stories to post every week.
I value every single follower and visitor and especially your comments. Thank you to all the readers who are following me, commenting here, and reading my novels and short stories. Most of all, thank you for sharing my writer’s journey. Which continues, as I’ve got two more short stories on the fire and a third novel drafted.
Balance … kind of like riding a bike, right? Keep on peddling.
Note on this Week's Tale of Terror:
This week's Tale of Terror is a bit different in that I've not only featured a classic author (Mary Elizabeth Braddon), but I have a contemporary author that you should know if you like horror or quiet horror. Stop by and experience The Specialist's Hat by Kelly Link for my concluding post on Women In Horror for October.
http://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2013/...
A writer’s art is mostly about balance. Balance of the elements of plot, dialogue, description, dynamics between protagonists and antagonists, even long sentences and short ones. I wrote my first novel at age 21 about vampire bats and my second novel about a haunted windmill. Both were dreadful novels and crushing failures. I wrote a pack of short stories and they also failed to see the publisher’s light of day. I rejected fiction writing for a while, wrote freelance feature articles for newspapers with surprising success; then I went back to fiction writing, determined to excel in my craft: read, examine, study, write; read, examine, study, write.
Here I am (I won’t say exactly how many years later) with seven short stories published in literary journals and anthologies, and two “quiet horror” novels selling conservatively on the internet (The Dazzling Darkness did make the Amazon ebook best-seller list for about 24 hours–a thrilling day), and book reviews by industry professionals and customer readers that I can be proud of.
Today, I’m happy to announce that Crickhollow Books (Crispin Imprint) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin will be publishing the print editions of The Dazzling Darkness and Night Sea Journey. Release dates might be as early as December.
Another piece of good news, Whistling Shade Literary Journal in St. Paul, Minnesota has just published my latest ghost story, Between the Darkness and the Dawn in their print edition (Internet edition will go live next week).
My Reading Fiction, Tales of Terror blog is nearing the 10,000 hits mark in less than a year of posts. And if you are a regular reader here, you can probably sense my dedication to (and my joy because I love doing Tales of Terror) writing highly inviting story introductions and hunting for the most thrilling and provocative classic short stories to post every week.
I value every single follower and visitor and especially your comments. Thank you to all the readers who are following me, commenting here, and reading my novels and short stories. Most of all, thank you for sharing my writer’s journey. Which continues, as I’ve got two more short stories on the fire and a third novel drafted.
Balance … kind of like riding a bike, right? Keep on peddling.
Note on this Week's Tale of Terror:
This week's Tale of Terror is a bit different in that I've not only featured a classic author (Mary Elizabeth Braddon), but I have a contemporary author that you should know if you like horror or quiet horror. Stop by and experience The Specialist's Hat by Kelly Link for my concluding post on Women In Horror for October.
http://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2013/...
Hey Dracula Fans! FREE short story by Stoker
Hey Dracula Fans!
Do you know the meaning of Walpurgis Nacht? Bram Stoker does.
FREE short story by Stoker "Dracula's Guest" at Tales of Terror Blog
http://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2014/...
Do you know the meaning of Walpurgis Nacht? Bram Stoker does.
FREE short story by Stoker "Dracula's Guest" at Tales of Terror Blog
http://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2014/...
Darkness of Solitude on Halloween: Poe
Poe never fails to deliver some of the best stories for Halloween. Have you read his Tale of the Ragged Mountains? Bet you might have missed this one. It works really well for your Halloween read.
Stop by Tales of Terror and take a spin with Poe, a short story, a bit of his poetry, and a peek at the last story he wrote before his sudden death.
http://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2014/...
Stop by Tales of Terror and take a spin with Poe, a short story, a bit of his poetry, and a peek at the last story he wrote before his sudden death.
http://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2014/...
Romantic Horror, Just Right for Halloween
Up for a romantic horror short story? "Ligeia" is by a favorite master writer of romantic horror.
Take a spin by Tales of Terror this week for your Halloween reading. FREE read.
https://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2015...
Take a spin by Tales of Terror this week for your Halloween reading. FREE read.
https://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2015...
Carnacki the Ghost Finder
“Then I heard it, an extraordinary hooning whistle, monstrous and inhuman, coming from far away through corridors to my right.”
If you are looking for a good ghost story for this season's reading for Halloween, The Whistling Room by William Hope Hodgson is a good one.
Stop by Reading Fiction Blog for a free read and free audio too.
https://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2016...
If you are looking for a good ghost story for this season's reading for Halloween, The Whistling Room by William Hope Hodgson is a good one.
Stop by Reading Fiction Blog for a free read and free audio too.
https://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2016...
Time Traps in Time Travel
What if a clock began to run backwards? What would happen to your own personal time, do you think?
If you are looking for a fascinating and well written story for this Halloween season, you will want to read The Clock That Went Backward by Edward Page Mitchell.
FREE 30 minute read, and audio too at ReadingFiction Blog:
https://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2016...
If you are looking for a fascinating and well written story for this Halloween season, you will want to read The Clock That Went Backward by Edward Page Mitchell.
FREE 30 minute read, and audio too at ReadingFiction Blog:
https://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2016...
The Dazzling Darkness, A Ghost Story
Recent 5-star review by Teri Polen at Books & Such:
"This was fascinating, heart-wrenching, and literally breathtaking at times. A detective working on a missing child case has to set aside the logical and rational when all else fails and consider supernatural options. Well-developed characters, eerie setting, spine-tingling occurrences, intriguing premise - highly recommend to supernatural mystery fans."
78 more reviews at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/The-Dazzling-D...
The Dazzling Darkness
"This was fascinating, heart-wrenching, and literally breathtaking at times. A detective working on a missing child case has to set aside the logical and rational when all else fails and consider supernatural options. Well-developed characters, eerie setting, spine-tingling occurrences, intriguing premise - highly recommend to supernatural mystery fans."
78 more reviews at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/The-Dazzling-D...
The Dazzling Darkness
